Design & Technology

This resource has been produced to give students the opportunity to practice a contextual challenge task ahead of their GCSE NEA in a real-life and exciting area. It has been designed to lead students through a single cycle of the iterative design process.

The D&T contextual challenges cover three sections: Explore, Create and Evaluate. All activities and timings are suggested – the resource can be used flexibly by you in class, as a project or in an after-school club.

FILM

This film introduces the iterative design process, using the real-life example of Land Rover BAR's steering wheel for the 35th America's Cup. It explains how you go through the explore, create and evaluate cycle before starting all over again to refine designs and make them fit for purpose.

PRESENTATION

This presentation can be used for all sections of the D&T Contextual Challenge. Notes have been added for you to present to the class. The slides relate to the Student Workbook.

STUDENT WORKBOOK

STUDENT WORKBOOK

TEACHER'S NOTES

Watch the video to find out more about the iterative design process and how the Land Rover BAR Team put it into action during the 35th America's Cup, then it’s over to your students to explore the design context using a concept map, before creating their own design brief for a new product that will enhance the performance or raise the profile of the team.

Students will then be asked to present their ideas and evaluate them.

Some examples have been provided to help some students or give a jump start to shorter lessons.

CURRICULUM LINKS

EXPLORE: The team

Content of Principles - OCR

1. Identifying requirements

1.1 How can exploring the context a design solution is intended for inform decisions and outcomes?

NEA Content - OCR

1. Identify requirements

a. Understand that all design and technological practice takes place within contexts that inform outcomes, learners should be able to identify and prioritise problems and opportunities that are relevant to their chosen context. These issues should be reflected on throughout their project.

EXPLORE: The design context

1.1 How can exploring the context a design solution is intended for inform decisions and outcomes?

1.2 Why is usability important when designing prototypes?

3. Implications of wider issues

3.1 What are the impacts of new and emerging technologies when developing design solutions?

3.2 How do designers choose appropriate sources of energy to make products and power systems?

3.3 What wider implications can have an influence on the processes of designing and making?

NEA Content – OCR

3. Implications of wider issues

a. Investigate factors, such as environmental, social and economic challenges, in order to identify opportunities and constraints that might influence the process of iterative designing and making, such as taking into consideration the ecological and social footprint of materials

EXPLORE: Your design brief

Content of Principles - OCR

1 Identifying requirements

1.1 How can exploring the context a design solution is intended for inform decisions and outcomes?

NEA Content – OCR

1 Identify requirements

b. Be able to write a design brief in response to a contextual challenge that considers stakeholders to identify and understand the requirements for designing through collecting, analysing ad presenting their findings from primary and secondary data.

4. Design thinking and communication

a. Demonstrate an ability to formulate appropriate technical and non-technical specifications reflecting on their own investigations and considering stakeholder requirements.

b. Be able to use different design strategies and approaches such as collaboration, user-centred design and systems thinking when generating and developing innovative design ideas that avoid design fixation.

CREATE: Collaborative ideas

Content of Principles - OCR

4. Design thinking and communication

4.2 How do designers source information and thinking when problem solving?

NEA Content – OCR

4. Design thinking and communication

b. Be able to use different design strategies and approaches such as collaboration, user-centred design and systems thinking when generating and developing innovative design ideas that avoid design fixation.

CREATE: Developing ideas

Content of Principles - OCR

4. Design thinking and communication

4.2 How do designers source information and thinking when problem solving?

NEA Content – OCR

4. Design thinking and communication

d. Apply techniques in order to communicate and record design ideas suitable to the stage of development in order to justify their own thinking and present their thinking and intentions to a third party…

CREATE: Sketch modelling/prototyping

Content of Principles – OCR

4. Design thinking and communication

4.1 How can design solutions be communicated to demonstrate their suitability to a third party?

4.2 How do designers source information and thinking when problem solving?

system and schematic diagrams, annotated sketches, exploded diagrams, models and written notes, to communicate development iterations

audio and visual recordings to share thinking, explorations and the functionality of ideas

formal 2D and 3D working drawings to outline specification requirements; 3D illustrations, mathematical modelling and computer based tools to present final solutions; schedules and flow charts to deliver planning

presentations and real-time evidence to communicate throughout project.

EVALUATE: Presenting your design

Content of Principles – OCR

8. Viability of design solutions

8.1 How can cost and availability of specific and/or system components affect their selection when designing?

NEA Content – OCR

8. Viability of design solutions

a. Be able to test, critically analyse and evaluate their design solutions against the identified stakeholder requirements, design opportunities and constraints in order to refine and improve future iterations.

b. Be able to make informed and reasoned decisions throughout the iterative design process, responding to feedback as appropriate to identify the potential next-steps of further development.

c. Be able to respond to feedback given by others about their prototypes in order to identify the potential for further development and suggest how modifications could be made through design optimisation.